Is belief in a loving God rational?

Atheism

Deism

Belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation [God created everything but rejected it- He did not care to rule or oversee it].

Theism

The belief in one God as the creator and ruler, without rejection of revelation [He did not create to reject His creation, rather to rule and oversee it].

Which one do you consider yourself? Do you believe that there is no God? If you believe there is, does God care about us or not? I will attempt to give you convincing evidence that there is a God that does love and care about us.

Evidence of a loving God...

In the existence of anything

There is no scientific explanation for the creation of energy, time, matter, the dimensions we live in
(even void must theoretically have an origin), and the laws of nature (e.g. where did gravity come
from, why is it here, what first set it in motion... how did matter and energy get their molecular
properties?). Creation by supernatural means is the ONLY feasible answer. Obviously we are here, which leaves two possibilities. One, the scientific laws have never been broken which means that we have no origin, we've just always been here obeying them. That is an impossibility, for according to the world we live in everything has a beginning and an end. Two, there is a point in which the universe began. This has scientific violation written all over it- the conservation laws were shattered and this begs several questions still. Where did the laws come from? Who/what gave matter, energy, void, sound, and time its properties? In this case you've got two choices. Either this all was a colossal blunder that science can somehow explain (it can't), or that we came from a divine power that is not subject to the rules of our dimension such as time and the fact that everything here must have an origin and an end, and therefore was able to violate all these laws to bring matter, energy, time, sound, and void into existence.

In the existence of life

There is no way to get life from non-life without a miracle. No scientist has been able to do this in
any situation. There are two possible conclusions to be drawn from this:

For if the top minds in the world can not force something to happen that supposedly
occurred
easily and repeated times with no direction behind it and with few resources available for it, maybe the flaw is in the thinking that it can be
done and not in the scientists or their equipment. The reality that no one can even explain how to create life in today's life-friendly
environment rules out any possibility other than that a supernatural force was behind it.

In the complexity of life

Life as we know it is far too complex to have evolved by chance and natural selection. Therefore, it must have been created by something greater (an Intelligent Designer). Look at the human body. I'll limit my explanation exclusively to our bodies, and not even start on life outside human life. Lets go back to
eighth grade Biology. Inside the human body are cells. Each cell contains a complex array of tools that work together to protect it from the exterior, that allow it to produce energy, move, grow, defend itself, function coherently as a unit, and reproduce. DNA and RNA are present which are so complex they still baffle top geneticists today. One strand of DNA is said to be able to hold information equivalent to 200 volumes of books at 200 pages each- small print!
There are more than 10 TRILLION of these cells in the human body! In addition, these trillions of cells all coordinate together to bring forth intelligent life in a human. The cells all work together to accomplish these deeds-

1. They enclose and protect us from the environment
2. They protect us from and fight disease
3. They give us structure which to rest in
4. They give us range of motion to move about freely
5. They give us power to move about freely
6. They give us control over these movements
7. They give us the power to reason and use intelligence
8. They give us the ability to communicate in several ways with others
9. They give us a means of receiving this information
10. They give us the ability to renew our strength by digesting food
11. They give us the ability to renew our strength by breathing air
12. They give us the ability to renew our strength by resting
13. They take the food, air, and time to rest we give them, and create growth and replenishment throughout our body
14. They give us the ability to learn
15. They give us the ability to grow in strength
16. They work together to grow the individual in size as they mature
17. They work together to help repair and recover from damage or injury

This is a microscopic list. I could literally go on forever- just on the human body. I could go into detail on just how amazing our bodies are. The body has been compared to a spectacular machine, the likes of which we have never seen. The question is- where do machines come from? Humans, and if that's the best we can do, what does this tell us about the kind of creator created our bodies? If you believe it is possible for a machine described by the points I listed above could appear from nowhere and not be the product of a highly intelligent being, truly I cannot understand your thought process. If a device as simple as a clock needs to be created
by an intelligent being, how could the human body come about by chance?

In the complexity of everything

The human body is certainly not alone in its complexity. You can take anything present today for example and see purpose and complexity in it. A blade of grass has cells as the human body does. All living things do. Atoms that make up everything are complex and there are things about them we still do not know. Everything is made of up electrons, protons, and neutrons that give matter its different properties. Kind of like all the information stored in a computer is made up of 0's and 1's. It's called assembly code, and I have learned a bit about it (my major being in Computer Science). You would be amazed at how many pages of one's and zero's it takes to output simple messages to the screen. I'll spare you the details. In the same way, atoms are the building blocks of our universe. If you thought the trillions of cells in the body was a large number, the number of atoms in the body is roughly equivalent to the number grains of sand along a several mile long beach. The number of atoms in a single drop of water is greater than a million, million, billion atoms. Now how all these building blocks came about in such a way to create something as simple as a rock, I do not know. Imagine having to browse the coastline looking for specific atoms that are needed at certain spot in the human body to put it together. It would take an eternity. Imagine then a hurricane coming and stirring up all the sand to form a perfect functioning clock made up of sand? That is a ridiculous impossibility. Imagine the sand just randomly grouping together to form the perfect functioning clock- impossible. The odds that we came together from gazillions of atoms to be the beautiful creatures we are today by random accident are worse than that. When you throw in the complexity of the ecology that we live in you must come to one verdict- design. The complexities go far beyond anything the human mind can comprehend. Scientists are now studying what makes up electrons, protons, and neutrons, and finding no end to the definitive building block of matter. Perhaps we will never find the smallest piece of matter. It is beyond the knowledge of even the brightest scientists. How then can we speculate that these things that we do not and cannot know all worked perfectly together to form the world and universe we live in today?

In the principles behind creation and acquisition

My thought here turns toward the more practical and understandable logic that I love. As I sit here and write, my dog (a Kerry Blue Terrier named Phalen) attends me and amuses me in the process. I love the dog. I am wearing (thankfully) clothes that I bought in a house my parents pay for. I write on a computer that was bought for our family and I wear glasses to help me focus
on my task. I am writing with muscles that I have tuned and developed since I was born. I sip on
caffeinated drinks to keep me going. Every one of these things I acquired for a purpose. I cherish the dog, use the clothes, computer, muscles, and finish up the drinks that I have. I would not have
acquired them if I didn't need or want them. How much more cherished are things that are created than those that are
acquired? How much does a mother or father love their children? How much does an inventor take pride and happiness from their invention? How much pride is there in the owner or creator of a successful business? I may like my clothes, or house, or dog, but I love this website above so much else. Why? I have put my time and effort into it and I am responsible for its success or failure. That's why I toil on to try and encourage you to take God seriously. I believe what I believe with my whole being and I cannot bear to see people die or rot spiritually. I created this site for a purpose, and I track it closely and with intensity. Any webmaster would tend to agree with me. I hope by now I've convinced you that there is some sort of intelligent design behind our existence, for now I am going to bank on it. Since we were created by some being whose
magnificence we cannot even begin to fathom, don't you think it has a purpose, plan, and love for us that cannot be understood either? I believe every birth is a miracle, every breath a gift. These things are out of our hands and unexplainable. Sure, the process is understood, but the "why?" part is not. I believe it's because life is beautiful and pleasing to God. If God created us and was displeased, wouldn't he destroy us and start over? He has in his mercy allowed us to survive and thrive. I can find no other explanation for my existence other than God has had mercy upon me and allowed me to live. The same is true for all those living today. Those that are dead have had their turn, their chance, their gift. God loved them in their time as well. Yet God certainly has not yet given up on you, so please do not give up on God. Continue to seek the Truth concerning His existence. If you seek with an open heart and mind you will find Him.

In the existence of humans

"God created man in His own image..." -Gen 1:27

The Bible claims that humans are different than animals. We were created as God's masterpiece; we were created in the image of Him. Evolution claims we are merely animals. You decide. Could a monkey build a nuclear bomb? Do lions ever hold remorse over killing for food? If humans are indeed set apart and special from the general category of mammals, this is in
definite contrast to what evolution has to say. Let me pose this question... Why haven't animals evolved a defense against us? It is because we are different- We have superior language, mental, and emotional capabilities that no other creature is even close to matching!

In the Bible

No one can dispute the fact that the Bible is the most amazing book ever to be written. It has been translated into more languages, it has been read more times, and it has more copies in print than any other book in the history of mankind. No other book has touched as many lives, no other work of history or science has remained relevant for such a tremendous length of time. And I say relevant, because no one has ever proven it a fake. EVER. So many people claim and claim that it is a myth, yet no one can even put a dent in it. Moses wrote the Pentateuch nearly 3500 years ago.
Scientific evidence is surfacing today that endorses the claims made in the Bible. I will begin posting these soon, so you can see with your own eyes. The point is- the Bible was divinely inspired. No human has ever written a book that has even come close to achieving one mere percent of the success the Bible has. That's a fact.

In Jesus

Jesus was the most amazing being ever to walk the face of the earth- EVER. I examine Him in detail in the
psychological section of my site. Basically, nothing can explain His resurrection. No one has been able to prove it a fake. In fact, there is much evidence for it. There is a link in my links page to an excellent essay written by famous Creationist Josh McDowell if you are interested in that. Here I will briefly explain why Jesus is proof of God. Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to be perfect. No one has ever come up with a successful report of Him sinning. There are some amusing attempts made by
Pharisees, but Jesus sent them all home with their tails between their legs. The Man was obviously not human. The only thing they could nail Him on was blasphemy, which is ironic because He really was God. It is well documented that Jesus endured some of the most pain any being has ever suffered on earth. Go to the gospels for some of the
gruesome details. He was whipped until you could see His intestines, a crown of thorns was driven into His head, He was spit upon, He was betrayed by ALL of His disciples, He was then crucified, and even then He refused all intoxicants to ease His pain. All the time a huge crowd whom He deeply loved hurled insults at Him. This Man was no man. All He had to do was say "I am not He". It would have all gone away. Right then. No human in any mental state would refuse that
opportunity. Heck, If I was God, I would have sent fire down upon them. But Jesus died. Why? To pay for the sin that has corrupted every human (see the message of Salvation section). The irrefutable point of this section is this- If Jesus was a fake would He not say, just kidding, and let out a hearty laugh and then get the heck outta there? Jesus showed supernatural strength and will power that no one on earth could ever come close to matching.

In the hearts of believers today

This is where the scientists who accept nothing they can't feel, touch, here, and see may stop reading. Because what I am about to say defies the scientific method. It is something defined as peace. Peace, my friends. I have it in my heart. It is something I never had before. Oh yeah, and joy, love, kindness, wisdom, purpose, patience, and security as well. These are things that were lacking in my life. When I found Jesus, he gave me new life. Now, you're
going to have to take my word for this, but if you know me now, you wouldn't have known me before Christ was in my life. I am a new person. There is no disputing this fact. I know, and that's why I put up this website- so that I may share the good news with other seekers, so that they may experience the joy I gained through Christ as well. Are you lacking these traits? If so- you need Jesus, please see the section titled "message of salvation". Evolution is currently one of the biggest threats to Christianity, so I posted some logical thinking on why evolution is not so logical here. I hope you enjoy the rest of my site...